Drifting Snow
by Fulinn28
Summary: Jack and his team spend Christmas at his cabin


****

Title: 

Author: Fulinn28

Title: Drifting Snow

Author: Fulinn28

E-mail: fulinn28@yahoo.com

Rating: G

Archive: SJ yes, Jackfic yes, Helio yes, SJFic yes, Fic with Fins yes, 

NoPeskyFish yes, all others please ask.

Pairings: None

Category: Hurt / Comfort

Season: Prior to Season Six, because Daniel's in it.

Content Warnings: None

Summary: The team spends Christmas at Jack's Cabin

Spoilers: None

Status: This story Complete.

Challenge: Warm Fuzzy #7 on TheGenGate list. Include Jacks Cabin, Snowstorm, Gen.Team interaction.

Sequel / Series: 

Size: 28 KB

Disclaimer: "All publicly recognisable characters and places are the 

property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secrect productions. This 

piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes 

and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously 

unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the 

author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental 

and not intended by the author."

Copyright: (c) 2003 bonnie rose

Authors Notes: All feedback and suggestions welcome and will be answered. 

my muse has many more stories in store for us. Thank you to my beta's Su Freund and Carolyn Faulkner, the best betas an author could ask for! This story is so much better for their efforts and suggestions. All remaining errors are mine and mine alone.

Drifting Snow.

December 22st

"Ok, Kids," I said with undisguised glee "we gotta get organized and be at the Airport by 0700 to catch our ride out of Peterson AFB into the 934th AFR at the Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport. Then its just a four hour ride to Vergas, the town closest to my cabin." The two other people in my living room did not return my enthusiasm. I don't know why, a week in the wilds of Minnesota surrounded by friends who seemed more like family, sounded perfect to me. I was amazed that I had got both Daniel and Teal'c to join me for Christmas at my cabin on Lake Rose. I guess the cabin sounded more inviting than a week of down time by themselves. I was sorry that Samantha Carter, my 2IC was not coming with us, but could understand her desire to spend the holidays with her brother in San Diego.

I had spent the better part of the day, regaling my friends with stories of holidays past, spent at the cabin. When I was married to Sara, we spent as much time as possible there. I taught Charlie to fish, hike and survive in the surrounding wilderness. I don't talk much about my first family, their loss always brings me more pain and regret than joy. Someday I thought, perhaps that would change, and I could share them more fully with my current team "family".

Packing for a winter trip to my cabin was no different really than packing for a cold weather trip through the stargate. You need to pack warm clothes, sleeping bags and supplies. Now I admit that the sleeping bags were not a strict requirement, there were beds and linens stored at the cabin, but in the winter it got pretty cold and the sleeping bags just provided an extra layer of warmth. In my humble opinion you can never be too warm when a winter wind is blowing in. 

In the non-winter months you can drive right up to the front door of the cabin, however in the winter the road in is never plowed out. It's only my cabin at the end and the expense to keep the road open would be unreasonable. Therefore we would be snowshoeing into the cabin from a neighbours yard. I also, had a toboggan to help carry in the supplies we'd need, not to mention a little sledding fun!

December 23nd

We arrived at Peterson AFB flight line bright and early, to catch the hop to 934th AF Reserve base. One of the advantages of being in the Air force was the ready availability of flights. As long as space was available on a regularly scheduled flight we were good to go! We checked in with the departure desk to verify that we had a space on the flight, and then took a seat in the departure area to wait for the call to board. I kept looking around, hoping for some reason, Carter would change her mind and show up in time to travel with us. I was surprised when I caught a glimpse of her moving through the crowd. Thinking that she was killing time waiting for her flight to San Diego, I was surprised when she joined us, complete with a cold weather pack.

"So, Carter," I asked teasing her just a bit " California gotten colder, has it?"

"No Sir!" came her immediate reply "I was hoping that the offer for a team 

holiday was still open."

"Nothing happened to your brother, I hope." Daniel said breaking into the 

conversation.

"No" Carter answered "Mark's company offered his family the use of a condo in Hawaii for the holidays. He offered to let me come as well but I decided I'd rather join you guys! He'll spend most of his time working with the office in Hawaii and you know my sister-in-law and I aren't very close."

"So, how 'bout it? Room for one more?" Carter asked her CO and friend.

"Ya sure ya betch ya!" came my reply. I was oh so pleased that the whole team would be together for a little bonding session. I thought back to my supply packing, glad that once again I had over packed and then some, so the addition of one more person didn't cause us any hardship. 

The flight into Minn.-St.Paul was uneventful. We picked up the rental vehicle I'd reserved, a big four wheel drive Ford Expedition. As we set out on the four-hour trip to the cabin, the radio reported that a storm was on the way. Storms in December are not exactly a surprise, but I hoped we'd make the cabin before it began to snow to heavily.

The drive along route 494 was clogged with traffic, but it thinned out as we turned on to route 94. Finally we reached exit 50 and turned onto the smaller state highway 59 and in no time we were entering Vergas. We arrived at the Carson's home where I made the necessary introductions and after a light snack and restroom visits, we got our gear out of the truck. We did a quick check of our packs, loaded up the boxes on the toboggan, and headed out. It was a beautiful winter's day for snowshoeing through thick forest. Lucky for us that the incoming snowstorm was blocking out some of the sunlight so it was a little easier on the eyes. 

About a half-hour into the trip, we stopped for a quick break. Just like on our missions, food and water breaks were a necessity that we all recognised. I had just settled my pack to the ground and dug out a granola bar when the first snowball hit me dead center of my chest. I quickly dropped to the ground and scooped a mitten full of snow up. Taking aim I hit Teal'c in the back of the head, and immediately rolled behind a downed tree and risked a glance. From my vantage point I saw Daniel get off a shot at Carter, but it went a little wide, smacking into a nearby tree. The impact of the snowball on the tree started an mini-avalanche as snow on each of the branches dropped down onto the branch below, eventually dropping down to completely cover Carter with snow. Her scream could be heard for miles, no doubt, and Daniel beat a hasty retreat, hiding behind Teal'c.

"Oh, Daniel, you can run and you can hide, but I'll get you back you wait and see!" Sam said with an evil glint in her eye, as Daniel peaked around the wide shoulders of his Jaffa protector.

"Ok, troops!" I called out as I rose from my hiding place "time to go. We got another half hour of walking."

So, we headed up the snowy trail, each lost in his own thoughts. I glanced up into the sky each time we passed through a clearing, concerned at the clouds above our heads. They were a very thick, grey color just full of snow waiting to drop on us. We pressed on, and by late afternoon we came into sight of the cabin.

It was the first visit to the cabin for the team and, as we cleared the last rise, the snug little place came into view. Many years ago my grandfather had built the house of native lumber. Over the years he and I had made many improvements. Adding a small generator to run the electric lights, refrigerator and water pump. However, we had left the older icebox and lanterns in place in case they were needed. We left our snowshoes in the snow banks beside the front door. Each grabbing a box off the toboggan we got the front door open and entered into the living room. 

The cabin consisted of two bedrooms, a bath and large living room. A huge 

fieldstone fireplace dominated the living room. The fireplace took up most of the far wall. It was large enough to have a cooking tripod inside with a large kettle hanging from it. On the side of the fireplace were two ovens. When I was a child, my grandmother had used the fireplace as the primary means of feeding us. She had baked her homemade bread in the side ovens, the thought bringing back many happy childhood memories. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a large breakfast bar where we'd take most of our meals. 

We quickly unloaded our supplies into the various cupboards and shelves. My job was to prime and start the generator. We'd run it a couple of hours a day to heat water for bathing and washing the dishes. I soon had the water pump primed and running, joking with Carter that she'd be doing the dishes using the hand pump in the sink. The cast-iron, wood-burning stove in the kitchen takes a bit of getting used to but, then, I'd been coming here since I was a small child. Therefore I took over cooking duties, leaving cleanup to someone else. In the winter I never ran the refrigerator as it used up too much gas; the icebox and snow worked just fine.

After dinner, we sat quietly enjoying each others company. Soon we were all nodding off, even though it was still early, we decided to turn in. Being the gentlemen I am I offered Sam the use of the master bedroom. She, however, declined.

"I sleep beside you guys on all of our missions, I don't mind bunking with you now." came Sam's protest. After all was said and done, Teal'c elected to perform his kel-no-reem beside the fireplace, a blanket thrown over his shoulders. That left the bunk room with three sets of bunk beds to just Daniel and Sam, each selecting a bottom bunk and storing their belongs on the top one.

With the sleeping arrangements completed we turned down the lamps and retired for the evening.

December 24th

The first thing I noticed upon waking was how quite it is beside my lake. No sound of cars, TVs or planes flying overhead. I rose from my bed pulling the blanket off with me to discover that the storm had moved in after we had gone to bed. I looked out the window to find it had snowed fairly heavily, our tracks from yesterday already filled in and invisible to the eye.

I left my room, noticing that the others were already up, the fireplace merrily burning away warming the living room. The smell of coffee led me to the kitchen stove. Pouring my self a cup I joined my friends in the living room.

"So, kids what's up for the day?" I asked, taking a seat on the large couch.

"Well we've been talking about it and we'd like to get a Christmas tree. It is Christmas Eve tonight ya know." Daniel reminded us.

"Sounds good to me, there's a small stand of pine tree's not to far away. I think we can find something there. I have all kinds of decorations and things in the loft. Also, we'll want to stock up on the firewood for both the stove and the fireplace, the storm seems to have settled in for the time being." 

We took a few minutes to replenish our inside wood supply. Luckily I had cut and stacked wood alongside the shed, just steps from the back door. As a safety precaution I strung a rope from the kitchen door to the side of the shed, should we need to bring additional wood in during the storm or after dark.

Once the chores were completed we headed out into the surrounding woods. Tracks of foxes and rabbits abounded throughout the clearings. Soon we passed over a small rise to find the stand of pine trees. As we wondered around them arguing for our choice of trees I reflected on how lucky we were to be together during the holidays. We were an unlikely group of friends, an orphaned archaeologist, an ageing air force colonel, a way too smart astrophysicist and an honest to god alien whose own home was literally light-years away, yet we were as close or closer than many families I'd known. I smiled as we finally reached an agreement and let Daniel select our tree. Once selected, Teal'c and I had it chopped down in short order. Each of us attached a rope to a sturdy branch and we dragged our find home.

We left the tree on the porch leaning up against the wall by the front door. It was time now to get some lunch made and warm up beside the fire. The afternoon was a quite one as it continued to snow, adding another few inches to the base. I was getting concerned with the amount of snow, if it continued for too long we would be unable to snowshoe out easily. 

The afternoon hours were spent teaching Teal'c and Daniel the fine art of 

tobogganing. A fairly steep hill ran from the side of the cabin, down towards the frozen lake. We had great fun watching as Teal'c took the first run of the day. Slipping and sliding down the hill, he raced out toward the lake. We each took a spin, practising our turns, throwing up rooster tails of snow as we shifted our weight trying to swerve this way and that! Laughing and yelling we took flight, flying down the hill and trudging back with the toboggan for the next person to try.

"Hey, guys? I'm going inside to get some hot chocolate. You guys behave out here, you hear?" Sam asked, trying to catch the eye of each of her teammates.

"Yes, mom. We hear you. No laughing, no playing no having fun," I replied in good humour.

"Ok, time to establish who is the 'King' of the hill" Jack declared looking at Teal'c and Daniel. "Here's what we'll do. We each get to take one run down the hill, the one who goes the furthest wins. No rules, No second chances. Teal'c, you go first, and then Daniel and I'll go last. Any questions?" There being none, Teal'c got into position and took his run.

"Nice one T!" Jack yelled, as he high fived him, Teal'c dragged the toboggan back to the waiting men. "Did you remember to mark the end of your run?"

"Yes, O'Neill. I left a very large branch beside the end of my path" Teal'c stated in his quite manner.

"Cool!" Jack enthused. "ok, Daniel you're up"

Daniel, sat on the toboggan and lined up his sights on the branch in the 

distance, he pushed off with his hands yelling and screaming his way to the bottom. Daniel placed a small pyramid of snowballs at the end of his run. He trudged back to the waiting friends.

"I left a marker at the end of my run. A pile of snowballs awaits you. I didn't get as far as T but you still need to work at beating me!" Daniel taunted me, the last to go.

I grabbed the toboggan and pulled it to the very top of the hill, then with a running jump I landed on the sled, belly down, adding to my speed with my hands and feet. 

All went well for the first couple of seconds, till I veered off the trail and plunged into the trees.

**** Inside the Cabin *****

Since I don't enjoy the snow like the 'boys' do, give me a nice warm beach anytime, I headed inside to enjoy the warmth of the fireplace. I had brought a new mystery novel along to read. I never seem to have the time when I'm home, to just sit and read for the pure enjoyment of the story. I looked up, started when the door opened with blast of cold air.

"Sam!" Daniel yelled looking frantically for his friend. They need her field medic training now more than ever.

"Daniel, calm down. What's wrong?" I questioned my friend.

"It's Jack, he was trying to win our stupid game, and the sled turned into the woods. Sam he really hit the trees hard. Ya gotta come quick!" Daniel gasped, finally pausing for breath.

"Ok, go get a couple of towels and the first aid kit. The colonel said it was on top of the Icebox. Meet me at the accident." With that I pulled on my coat and boots and was out the door.

Running along the top of the hill, all I could see was the trail of the sled as it headed into the woods. Alongside it were the tracks of the Jaffa, as he had hurried to his friend's assistance. The newly fallen snow made travel by foot difficult and it took me several minutes to reach my friends. My heart sank as I took in the scene before me.

The toboggan carrying my commanding officer had been travelling very fast when it had hit a small bump, causing it to swerve to the left hitting a rather large blue spruce tree. The sled was turned on its side, with Teal'c lying in the snow beside it. I hurried forward as quickly as the powdery snow would allow.

I finally reached them and, lying down on the other side of the sled, finally getting my first look at my friend. He was lying on his right side, a cut on his forehead slowly dripped bright red blood on to the clean, white snow.

"Teal'c did you move him at all?" I asked as I began to assess the colonel's injuries.

"No MajorCarter I did not." came the solemn reply.

"Good, can you turn the toboggan right side up? We'll need it to transport him to the cabin."

"I can" Teal'c said as he rose up and moved the sled to one side.

Daniel joined us carrying the towels and first aid kit.

"Here Sam. What can I do to help?" Daniel asked as he knelt beside his best friend.

"Take a compress from the first aid kit and apply gentle pressure to the head wound. Once it stops bleeding, put a bandage on it. Now I've checked him over and he's got a pretty sizeable bump on the side of his head, but I don't feel any other broken bones. I'm going to wrap this towel around his neck to help stabilise it, then we'll place him on the sled. It will act as a backboard for now. We'll move him into the house on it and then I can get a better look at him once we can take off the warm clothes." I laid out the plans like the military officer I am, and no one questioned it.

Carefully the team worked to balance the need to move Jack into the warmth of the cabin with caring for any injuries he might have. I cautiously held his head to minimize movement while Teal'c and Daniel gently move him onto the sled. As they began the work of pulling the sled up hill I realized that it was snowing much heavier now than earlier in the day, the wind 

whipping the snow hard enough for it to hurt, like little needles piercing my skin.

Eventually we made it inside, Daniel had gone ahead to make sure the fire was burning to warm the room. With Teal'c at the head of the sled, and Daniel and myself at the foot, we carried it in to rest before the fireplace. Quickly shedding our outerwear, we sat back to contemplated our next move.

"What a way to spend Christmas Eve, huh?" I asked as I looked at the colonel, smudges of blue showing below each eye.

"Sam, what do we do? We can't get him any medical aid because of the storm." Daniel asked, worry plainly displayed on his face.

"Well, Daniel," I said quietly "We're not going anywhere tonight. I don't think he's hurt too badly. The best thing is to keep him warm and quite. Lets get his feet elevated a bit, we don't want shock setting in." 

I unzipped his coat and removed his boots. Covering him with a blanket we 

settled down to keep vigil. As the afternoon wore on, Daniel became increasingly agitated. Finally knowing they needed to keep their minds off Colonel O'Neill for a while I made a suggestion.

"Daniel, Colonel O'Neill told me the Christmas tree decorations were up in the loft. Can you see if you can find them, please?" I asked, hoping to take his mind off his friend.

"Sure, Sam I can do that" he replied, knowing that it was busy work but wanting to do something.

"I will bring the tree in MajorCarter" Teal'c offered jumping to his feet and heading for the door.

A short time later Daniel re-appeared in the living room with a tree stand and after two more trips had deposited three boxes of decorations. Between the three of us we got the tree placed near the front windows, and began placing glass balls, stringed beads and other small homemade decorations among the branches of the tree. At the very top, a small angel was placed, looking down into the room. Stepping back to look at the tree, we smiled at each other, the tree was beautiful and stood out as the centerpiece of the room.

The wind howled loudly outside of the snug little cabin, but no chill could reach us as we stood, gathered around their tree.

"Hey, kids? It's looking very nice!" a voice softly stated.

"Jack, you're awake. How are feeling? Are you in any pain?" Daniel's questions coming so fast that I had no time to actually answer any of them.

"Slow down, Daniel, give a man a chance to think!" I retorted.

"Sorry Jack. Just really glad to see you're awake." Daniel smiled gently.

"So, Sir how are you feeling?" Sam asked her CO.

"Ok, I think, Major" Jack said softly "but I've got a mother of a headache."

"Nauseous, Sir?" Sam asked wondering about a concussion.

"Nope, stomach seems ok." Jack replied after a moment of consideration.

"Any pain in your neck, back or legs and arms?"

Again, Jack took a moment to test each of the body parts his Major had inquired after, and again thankfully, he found everything to be in working order.

"Nope, looks like I was lucky, nothing broken." came his reply.

"What's our situation?" Jack asked of his 2IC, falling back on his military training.

"Storms moved in, high winds and snow. No visibility to speak of. Food, Shelter and heat are fine, Sir." came the expected reply.

Cool!" Jack smiled, "I see you were busy with the tree. That's good. Real good, cause in my room on the floor by the closet is my backpack. Can you bring it out here for me?" 

Teal'c moved off to get the pack as Daniel helped me to move from the makeshift backboard to the couch. I slowly changed position, for each move intensified the pounding in my head. Once I was lying on the couch with a pillow under my head, I opened eyes my again to see my friends anxiously peering 

down at me

"Hey! I'm fine, go find something else to stare at." I looked each of my friends in the eye in an effort to convince them at all was well.

Teal'c returned with the pack and following my request, opened it and looked inside. In the bottom of the mostly empty pack were three small gifts brightly wrapped. I directed that they be placed under the tree, to be opened tomorrow on Christmas Day.

Teal'c complied with the request and then retrieved three gifts of his own, placing them under the tree as well. As Teal'c moved away from the tree, Daniel and then Carter replaced him, each of them placing their gifts under it. Daniel sat on the floor closest to my head, his blue eyes watching, still concerned for me.

We chatted together about this and that, the subject not 

Important, the friendship was. Soon, as the snow continues to pile up on the porch, the wind blowing it into deep drifts, the sleepy companions each headed to bed.

"Jack, you need some help getting ready for bed?" Daniel asked softly not want to wake him if he were already asleep.

"Yeah, I could use a hand getting to my room. Do you think we could scare up an aspirin around here?" I asked tiredly, the events of the day starting to catch up me.

I soon had my best friend tucked into bed, aspirin in hand, a water glass 

beside the bed.

The cabin became quite as we all went to sleep.

December 25th

I awoke on Christmas day to snow drifts partially covering the windows. The sun shone brightly and birds could be heard in the woods. My headache was only a whisper now, after a good night's sleep. I swung my feet out from under the covers, following the smell of breakfast. As I walked out to the kitchen my stomach reminded me that I had missed supper the previous night.

My team, family really, looked up as I stepped into the living room. Carter jumped to her feet, offering to get my breakfast for me. 

"Merry Christmas, Jack" Daniel started off the round of greetings.

"What, you haven't opened the gifts yet?" I teased him.

"Sam, wouldn't let us. She made us wait for you" Daniel ribbed me.

"Indeed, O'Neill, MajorCater was most insistent that we allow the aged to rest" Teal'c offered. I sat back staring at him, thinking his sense of humour was improving!

"Here, Sir, pancakes and home fries for you" Carter offered me my plate.

"Thanks" I replied as she took a seat beside me.

"Ok, Daniel why don't you hand out the gifts?" I offered as I began to eat.

Like a little kid, Daniel excitedly handed out the gifts, reading each tag 

carefully. Soon all the gifts sat beside their intended recipient. No one opened a gift. I paused in sipping my coffee, curiously looking at my team. 

"Ahh, go ahead open'em up, what are you waiting for?" I finally gave the command they seemed to be waiting for. I settled back, my headache having come back a bit more forcibly than when I first got up. Soon they were fully involved with one gift or another. Carter with a new CD of her favourite music, Teal'c with a new game for his game boy, Daniel with a reference book, and I had a new book on Astronomy. Unfortunately, with my headache I found it difficult to read and so, leaning back into the couch, I closed my eyes, dozing off.

Later on I felt Daniel gently lay me down on the couch, more comfortable than sitting up to sleep. The fire popped and sparked as it burned in the hearth. My team, keeping watch over me as I slept, were quick to offer me 

aspirin, water or something to eat each time that I woke. I know that they were worrying over me, as it was so unlike me to be quite and still, but I knew I was safe here, as was my team, so saw no reason to struggle. I lay back and enjoyed the feeling of peace and well being. 

The day passed quietly. I got up in the late afternoon and, as long as I moved slowly and did not over do it, found I could help with taking the tree down and picking up around the cabin.

Teal'c had cleared the snow from the porch, and was able to drag the tree out to the woodpile. By spring, when I could return, the tree would be ready to chop into firewood. We left all of the supplies that we'd brought up with us in the cabin, no point to lugging it all back to the "real world". A basic supply of water and energy bars were all we'd need for tomorrow's hike home. I was so not looking forward to the long walk to the truck.

December 26th

I awoke on our last morning here in the cabin, listening to my team as they broke camp and prepared to head out. A soft knock at my bedroom door brought Teal'c to my bedside.

"O'Neill, we are ready when you are." he stated in his elegant way.

"Ok, T. Give me a minute to get dressed and grab something to eat." I responded.

"MajorCarter, has left you an egg sandwich. She says it's just like 'McDonalds'. I do not agree." Teal'c stated with a shudder.

"Uh, don't worry T I'm sure I've had worse." I said with a laugh.

Shortly I came out to find all the work had been done while I was still asleep. I must have really needed this downtime; I can't remember the last time that I had been the last one to wake each morning.

I grabbed my sandwich and joined my friends on the porch, each of us gazing out over the new fallen snow. It sparkled and shined in the bright sunshine. I slipped on my sunglasses, shouldered my pack and looked at my "family".

"Ok, kids time to trample through the new drifted snow!" With that last thought we headed for home.

end


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